My husband's family tree includes the McClure family from Donegal but originally from Isle of Skye, ancestors who are known as Scots-Irish.
So when the Genealogical Publishing Company kindly sent me a review copy of the two volumes that make up David Dobson's latest work, I was delighted to take a look.
Disclaimer: Although I received this publication for free, please note that the opinions in this post are entirely my own.
Consolidated index is handy
Scots-Irish Links, Consolidated Edition, consists of two volumes, each more than 900 pages, reprints of carefully-researched works that were previously published. If you have an intense interest in Scots-Irish genealogy, and need to consult surname-based research going back hundreds of years, these pricey volumes might be worth the investment.
What makes them particularly useful is that each volume contains a consolidated index. Instead of having to look up names in more than a dozen briefer books researched by Dobson in earlier years, today the reader can flip through a single index at the end of each volume.
Searching for McClure names in County Donegal, I found a listing for Robert McClure, as well as a listing for John McClure.These clear, concise entries told me not just surname and given name but also the location and the year, along with an abbreviated reference I could follow back to the source.
More about sources
Dobson provides a listing of "references" indicating the meaning of the abbreviated citations in each volume (see sample here).
As a researcher based in New England, I'm not familiar with most of these sources. It's been a good learning experience to follow up--especially considering that I hope to discover other Scots-Irish ancestors from my husband's family tree in some of these sources!
Scots-Irish Links by David Dobson is available as a two-volume set or individually priced. See the Genealogical Publishing website for more information about contents and pricing.